Tia Thurnax

Tia Thurnax

unit

(see more)

As an additional cost to buy Tia Thurnax, consume 7 Drones.
(Prompt: blocks immediately)
(Fragile: does not heal)
3 (Stamina 3: can only be clicked 3 times)
: gain 7

Supply:	1
Cost:	7
Build time:	0
Health:	4
Attack:	7
Stamina:	3
Notes:	Prompt Blocker Fragile
Consumes:	Drone
Position:	Middle Right

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A Tia Thurnax

Tia Thurnax is an extremely aggressive Green-red unit which sacrifices a lot of your own economy to build. It is part of Antares.

Panel

Strategy

Tia Thurnax is easily the most aggressive unit in the game, providing 7 attack immediately on the next turn. Since she has 3 Stamina, she can only be clicked on three turns. Even so, Tia is relatively cheap considering the total damage she provides. The required seven Drones sacrifice means that a Tia player will quickly fall behind in economy. She should be bought in situations where she's likely to deal significant damage to your opponent, ideally enough to close out the game.

Random sets where Tia is present should be read extra carefully. Like other burst units such as Scorchilla, she can be countered by strong or preventive defense units (Polywall, Shredder). If none are available however the resulting games will probably end in the early or mid game, and the winner will be the one timing Tia best.

Getting Tia first is not always best. She can only attack 3 times, so if you don't have any other attackers and your opponent survives the three shots you might end up strictly behind them in both economy and constant damage. One should usually build some other damage dealers before her while their economy is still intact (even just a couple of Tarsiers can make a huge difference).

On the same note, answering Tia with a Tia of your own can lead to a win, particularly if it lets you kill your opponent's Tia through breaching before she can shoot 3 times. As such, it is generally good to give yourself the option of buying Tia if your opponent has access to her, even if you don't plan on building her yourself immediately.

Only standard Drones can count towards Tia's cost. Drone alternatives such as Vivid Drones and Doomed Drones cannot.

Combos

Protoplasm is excellent Tia support as you can buy it after Tia for additional pressure. Endotherm Kit can also be extremely effective if you time it to arrive on the same turn as Tia. In low-econ Tia Thurnax games, you will likely find yourself overteched after buying Tia and so green and red sink units such as Nitrocybe and Gauss Charge can be of help.

Openings

Naked Tia

This is the super fast Tia Thurnax rush, available to Player 2.

1. ... DD
2. ... DDC
3. ... AC
4. ... Tia Thurnax* (8 gold, 4 Drones and 1 Red remaining)

A Player 1 variation exists:

1. DD ...
2. DC ...
3. CA ...
4. Tia Thurnax (2 gold, 2 Drones and 1 Red remaining)

Both these rushes can be easily held off by getting an early Blastforge and preparing for the Tia ahead of time with a few Engineers or a Steelsplitter and spending all extra gold on Engineers once Tia hits. However, it can be a good idea to play one of these rushes in answer to a low-econ red-rush as the opponent will not have access to the necessary defensive units.

Replays

Win: http://play.prismata.net/?r=6Vos6-P24ez - Endotherm kits work very well with the rush because you can buy one every turn after getting Tia

Loss: http://play.prismata.net/?r=4RFmg-NT1UZ - Naked tia, into feral wardens.

Loss: http://play.prismata.net/?r=z4lYD-odxOQ - Holding Naked Tia & Rhino with base set only

Chrono Tia

If Chrono Filter happens to be in a set with Tia Thurnax, it is possible to land a Turn 3 Tia. This is perhaps the most aggressive and risky opening in the game. It is available to Player 2.

1. ... DC
2. ... C + Chrono Filter
3. ... Tia Thurnax* (4 gold and 1 Blue remaining)

The Turn 1 play DC is highly unusual and should arouse suspicion.

Replays

None yet.

Delayed Tia Thurnax

Compared to the Naked Tia, this opening gets an extra 3 Drones, as well as 2 Tarsiers that attack the same turn as Tia, at the cost of only one additional turn.

The delayed Tia Thurnax build is available to Player 2.

1. ... DD
2. ... DDC
3. ... DA
4. ... DDTT
5. ... DDT + Tia Thurnax

This build order was shared by Pseudoradius on the Prismata subreddit, where he stated:

"This gives you 9 Attack on turn 6 and leaves you with 9 Drones. Enough to go double Tarsier or Tarsier + Rhino every turn afterwards.

This build severely punishes opponents that opt for a high economy strategy. If Thurnax is available, going for triple Drones probably is suicidal."

A Player 1 variation:

1. DD ...
2. DC ...
3. DA ...
4. TTD ...
5. T + Tia Thurnax

Replays

Pseudoradius vs. ChoKosoku: http://play.prismata.net/?r=H4T0j-4Nqdf

Pseudoradius vs. DrTasslehoff: http://play.prismata.net/?r=6EY+P-zADjr

External Links

• Prismata Game Analysis #11: Defending Scorchilla Tia Thurnax, a video by Argeiphontes. (January 28th, 2015)
• Unit of the week #4: Tia Thurnax, a discussion on Reddit. (February 8th, 2015)

Change Log

• February 15th, 2015
  • Cost increased from 4 + sacrifice 7 Drones to 6 + sacrifice 7 Drones.

Unit types
Colorless